International Education Week brings guest speakers and learning to campus
BY: OLIVER PULCHER
Staff Writer
During the week of Nov. 12 through Nov. 16, St. Louis Community College Meramec hosted International Education Week. Filled with education for all on campus, the event celebrated the various cultures and the diverse population at Meramec.
With sessions ranging from an Introduction to Speaking in Farsi by Professor Arabashi to a session on the differences between different education systems all over the world by Dr. Ana Lucía de C. Cruz, to a lunch-wide tea and henna sampling event, the week encompassed education for everything internationally related on campus.
The event also showcased the various opportunities offered by Meramec’s Study Abroad Program with trips to China, Italy, Cuba, Japan, France, Barbados, Scotland and England. The event offered a sort of introduction to the various cultural differences and opportunities that could be experienced on a study abroad trip.
And though the event was used to showcase the study abroad opportunities offered by the college, according to Dr. Shamim Ansari, “International Education is important because America has been and is a nation of immigrants; however, Americans are not sufficiently exposed to other countries and other cultures. Through education and exposure, people are more likely to be more comfortable and therefore more likely to welcome others.”
According to Professor Sneh Kothari Kiss, “International Education is important because it is a part of the global studies program at STLCC, and International Education week also raises awareness of the diversity on the Meramec campus.”
International Education week offered all of these opportunities for exposure and education, which were showcased by various speakers, professors, and international students.
“The obvious audience for International Education week is the students of STLCC Meramec.
However, the faculty also gain a lot from it. In addition, International Education Week gives international students a public forum to speak about their own personal experiences with everyone else at STLCC,” said Dr. Ansari. “However, everyone benefits from International Education week and it’s a way to celebrate other cultures as a college.”
Her reasons for coordinating these types of events are personal and professional.
“I am involved with International Education because I am myself half-German and half Asian-Indian. I came to the U.S. in 1999 when I got my Ph.D. at the University of Colorado. I finished school in the fall of 2008,” she said. “I’m one of the few faculty members who is a foreigner and I am still on my green card. I hope that the students take away the very important lesson of not taking their own well-being or their privileges as an American citizen for granted.”
